Chicago Theatre
- Architect
- Rapp and Rapp
- Year
- 1921
- Style
- Baroque Revival
- City
- Chicago, IL
- Collection
- movie palaces
Built in 1921 by Rapp and Rapp for the Balaban and Katz chain, the Chicago Theatre on North State Street was the flagship of one of the era's largest movie-house empires, run by brothers Abe and Barney Balaban with partners Sam and Morris Katz. From 1925 to 1945, B&K's Chicago Theatre anchored a dominant motion-picture business. Today Madison Square Garden Entertainment operates the 3,600-seat hall for concerts, comedy, and stage shows.
the building
The marquee. The theater's marquee, an unofficial emblem of Chicago, has appeared repeatedly in film, television, artwork, and photography — making the building's exterior almost as famous as anything staged inside it.
Baroque revival facade. Rapp and Rapp, known for their movie-palace commissions, designed the building in a baroque revival style with a terra-cotta triumphal-arch front facing State Street, built to announce a 3,600-seat auditorium as a grand public spectacle before a single film played.
the style
The Chicago Theatre was designed in a baroque revival idiom, typical of Rapp and Rapp's ornate movie palaces of the era, with an elaborate terra-cotta triumphal arch facing State Street meant to signal spectacle before a ticket was even sold.
More on Baroque Revivalthe architect
Rapp and Rapp were noted movie-palace architects who built the Chicago Theatre in 1921 as the flagship for the Balaban and Katz chain, one of a nationwide wave of opulent motion-picture houses the firm designed during the silent-era theater boom.
significance
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 6, 1979, and designated a Chicago Landmark on January 28, 1983. The theater's marquee has become an unofficial emblem of the city.
nearby
- Page Brothers Building
- Nederlander Theatre
- Oliver Building
- Delaware Building
- 35 East Wacker Building
- Old Dearborn Bank Building